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Leviticus 21（ESV）
1 And the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, No one shall make himself unclean for the dead among his people, 2 except for his closest relatives, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, 3 or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may make himself unclean). 4 He shall not make himself unclean as a husband among his people and so profane himself. 5 They shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body. 6 They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. For they offer the Lord’s food offerings, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. 7 They shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. 8 You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I, the Lord, who sanctify you, am holy. 9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by whoring, profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.
10 “The priest who is chief among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not let the hair of his head hang loose nor tear his clothes. 11 He shall not go in to any dead bodies nor make himself unclean, even for his father or for his mother. 12 He shall not go out of the sanctuary, lest he profane the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him: I am the Lord.
REFLECTION
- This chapter is about the ceremonial cleansing of priests
- The whole community of Israel was holy and was to live by the moral and ritual standards that God had ordained. But the priests were set apart for the Lord from within this holy community. Thus the standards by which they lived were even higher.
- As believer-priests, Christians are called to live by the highest standards of holiness. Only by relying on God’s Holy Spirit can we meet and surpass the righteous requirements of Old Testament Law (Rom 8:4).
PRAYER
Respond to this question: How can I live a holy life? Note my thoughts and feelings. Write them down and converse with God. Ask the Holy Spirit to show areas of my life that is not yet holy. Pray for God’s help to begin the process of becoming holy in my daily life.
HYMN:
Strength of My Life – youtu.be/6sqy1URx4mg
